Believe
by j0d1y33t
Summary: Nico di Angelo is on a quest to bring two special demigods to Camp Half-Blood. They face extreme challenges on their way there. Tragedy strikes when the trio nearly reaches Camp Half-Blood, causing another quest to begin. Will they be able to complete the quest and save one of their team mates or will they fail and one of them is put in eternal sleep?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Underworld Visit**

 **Nico:**

I held my roses tightly, letting the thorns prickle my hands as Charon's boat moved slowly along the river. _Give these roses to your stepmother, Nico_ said his father _Be as polite and courteous as you can, I don't want to have any trouble when I come back between you and Persephone._ Yeah like nothing bad would end up happening, I thought in my mind, ninety-nine percent sure.

I clutched at my cloak tighter as the temperature dropped six degrees, Charon's boat drifted to the EZ Death Pass line.

"All dead get off!" Charon crowed "Also the living." I got onto my feet unsteadily, four years of visiting the underworld, and I still wasn't used to the Underworld customs. I jumped out of the boat and shadow traveled to my father's house.

Oh, if you were wondering why I didn't shadow travel earlier, it was because it was more tiring for me to teleport from the overworld to the underworld.

The palace loomed forebodingly over the Fields of Asphodel, where all the poor, cloudy minded folks were. I breathed in and exhaled.

I climbed into Persephone's garden, where I purposely ripped out all 36 of her daisy plants, I was in a pretty bad mood. Immediately, a bright flash of life greeted me, and disappeared, replacing a very furious Persephone.

"DID YOU KNOW HOW RARE THOSE DAISIES WERE? THEY WERE A RARE HYBRID OF THE ROSE AND THE SAFFRON!" Persephone shrieked. I tried my best not to shrink away and run, so instead I held my ground.

"I would blast you into chrysanthemum petals, but I'm afraid that would anger Hades very much, so instead, I have a quest for you," Persephone said picking up the limp daisies.

I held in a groan, of course there was a catch wasn't there? I couldn't just leave after delivering these flowers. I handed Persephone the roses.

"You see, there are two demigods that live in San Jose, I need you to go and retrieve them."

I crossed my arms, "You couldn't just ask a satyr to do it?"

Persephone smiled "Ah, but this pair of demigods, brother and sister, are very, very special children. I couldn't just ask a regular satyr to do it, I require a very… strong demigod to do so. None of the Seven have time to do it, and neither is that Reyna Ramirez- Arellano, so why not ask the other demigod?"

I uncrossed my arms "They're really that special, huh?"

Persephone reached her hand out, and a bag of mortal money and drachmas appeared. "This is all you need. I will teleport you to place they are and I will send you a signal that you have found the right demigods. Good luck mortal."

I took the bag of money and closed my eyes, prepared to be teleported.

"Hold on, boy." She held her hand out and I gripped it. I felt my stomach lurnch and separated into pieces. The pieces separated and felt as if they were being rushed in the wind. Suddenly, it felt as though the pixels and somehow smashed together and I felt my head smack against the ground.

I was in an alleyway, leaning against a stack of crates, nursing my injured head and touched the back of it. Ouch, a bump the size of a fist, I winced as I massaged the bump. I started to stand, when I started seeing double. Yep, I definitely have a concussion. I reached into my pocket to retrieve an ambrosia square, only to find that the ziploc had gone missing.

I looked around, trying to make sense of where I was. Then, I saw on the other side of the alleyway, an open view of the beautiful, Golden Gate Bridge. _California._ Maybe I could drop by Camp Jupiter and say hi to Reyna. I started towards the bridge, feeling dizzy and nauseous at the same time. Random thoughts filled my head to distract myself from the pain. _Why is the Golden Gate Bridge called Golden? After all, it's red._

Thanks to my distraction, I didn't look where I was going and stepping on something that let out a _crunch_. I looked down and my eyes widened. It was fresh dust from a dead monster. I whipped my head around, whatever killed it was long gone. I continued to walk, but kept myself on high alert.

I continued for about six more yards, when my vision turned an ugly shade of a mixture of green and yellow. This isn't good. I slid down against the floor and breathed in and out deeply. I refused to end up dying because of a mortal wound. _I'll rest until I'm ready to continue walking._ I lowered my head and gingerly placed my arms underneath my head and on top of my lap. My brain felt like it was being microwaved and shaking unrestrained in my head. I relaxed my body and listened to my heartbeat.

I waited until the pain the calm and wash away and slowly and unwillingly got up. I stretched my neck, until I heard a growl. I looked down and saw a chimera laying in front of me. I backed away slowly and silently unsheathed my sword, keeping my eyes trained at its eyes. The chimera stared at me and I stared back. _Clink!_ Both of our eyes ran down to my sword. I brought it out and held it in front of me in fighting stance.

The chimera roared and leapt at my face. I stepsided and let the chimera ran into the emptiness next to me, it made a 180 degree turn and snarled at me. It swiped at my face and knocked me into the wall behind me. I felt my bruise getting worse, and my vision turning from shades of green to yellow to paler colors.

I tried to get up, but my head hurt so badly, I couldn't even move my foot. I gritted my teeth and prepared for the worst. I felt a searing pain across my cheekbones. Red-hot sticky substance dripped down my face and felt a pain in my heart. I had never felt so helpless and vulnerable. The chimera roared its loudest and I was ready for its death blow. I clenched my hands tightly, when I heard the chimera begin to choke.

I opened my left eye, which took a lot of effort and will. Through the green, yellow and blur, I saw a boy a little older than me, he had playful brown hair, tall but I couldn't see his face. He stabbed something into the chimera's body. It let out a loud roar, and it collapsed. The chimera dissolved into little particles and the boy kicked aside the dust.

He walked over to me and gripped me on the shoulder. "Hey you, you okay?," he asked. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. "It's okay, don't talk. Can you get up? I have a place I can bring you for you to rest." He half- carried and half- supported me up and he started to walk me out of the alley. I started to get chills but sweated, my vision turned into a deeper shade of green and I collapsed.

"Is he alright?," I heard a childish voice asked.

"He'll be alright, just be quiet and let him rest," a deeper voice said.

I opened my eyes and found myself staring back at a pair of the bluest eyes I've ever seen. "He's awake," the owner of the eyes said.

"Then come here, Adara, make something for him," the other voice called out farther away. "I'll talk to him."

I sat up and surveyed the room, it was barely a room, it was just a stack of cardboard boxes constructed into a room. I sat on a makeshift bed made from small pieces of cloth crudely stitched together onto piles of newspaper, lots of newspaper. Next me was a cardboard box with a candle sitting on it, it was empty other than the box and bed.

The boy came through the doorway, he had the same feathery, brown hair as I saw before, he had downturned, brown eyes; high cheekbones; thick, gradual eyebrows and thin, bright pink lips. He had a trusting and honest look to him. He sat on the floor beside me.

The boy held out his hand and I shook it. "I'm Aidan Donaghue, who are you and how did you get here?"

I looked down at him "I'm Nico Di Angelo, and uh… how did you see the chimera?"

Aiden peered at me "Me and my sister have always seen it and all the other monsters in San Francisco. Especially that chimera, it has always been there and will always be; it's part of our curse, Hera sent it here."

My eyes widened "Woah… woah… how did you know about Greek Mythology? Well… technically not mythology."

Aiden shook his head "It's a long story, way too long to tell."

" What did you do to Hera that would actually anger her so much for her to actually send a dangerous monster to you guys herself?"

Aiden breathed out, for a moment, I thought there was a flash of anger across his face. "It isn't about me and my sister, it's our parentage."

I was still lost in the fog "What did your parents do to Hera then?"

Aiden puffed out his breath, looking even more distracted "One of them broke an oath… it's another long story, but anyways, what are you doing here?"

"Well I've come here to retrieve you and your little sister from here to a camp. The camp is called Camp Half-Blood, it's a safe haven for you guys and other kids like you. It's where Greek Mythology actually can train there and make friends, though I'm not that good at making them-" I was interrupted by another person, a small girl, entering the room.

The girl was about ten, and she was holding a tray with a bowl on top of it. She stared at us and frowned "Are you guys talking? I'll come back, but remember that the soup is getting cold…"

"No it's okay, bring it here," Aiden called back, patting the floor next to him. The girl waltzed towards the center of the room, she and her brother had matching sets of downturned eyes; high, protruding cheekbones; eyebrows; lips and a strong jawline. But the girl had blue eyes; black, feathery hair. She had a more graceful complexion to her, while her brother had a more rugged one.

"This is Adara, my little sister," Aiden said. Adara hid behind Aiden, arms wrapped around him, shyly gazing at me.

Aiden pushed the bowl towards me "Eat up, chicken noodle soup." He turned his head back and gave a confused look at Adara "Why didn't you get something heavier for Nico?"

Adara said in a hushed tone, but loud enough for me to hear "Well, I thought that since, he just woke up from a concussion, he wouldn't be very hungry, so I made something a little lighter for him to eat.

"She's smart," I said, smiling at her gently. It was the truth, I really wasn't that hungry. I spooned some in my mouth, the food was good. I drank a few more sips, when a thought occurred to me. "Wait, how can you afford food if you don't have any money?"

Aiden smiled slyly at Adara, who smiled back with a dimple on the right side of her face. She reached her hand out and took a newspaper from the bed I had been sitting on. Adara laid it flat on the ground and pointed her finger at it. She squeezed her eyelids together with concentration, and a shot of orange glow zapped the newspaper, creating fog around it. When, the fog cleared, there was a plate of blue jello in place of the newspaper.

Adara smiled wider "Dessert," and she giggled and ran towards Aiden. My mouth had probably been wide opened for quite sometime, because I began to feel sore around my jaw. I quickly closed it

"Any other tricks?" I asked.

Aiden smiled and held out his hand. He shook it and his hand burst into flames. I scrambled backwards, close to getting my lashes singed off, while both Adara and Aiden shape shifted into animals. Adara turned into a donkey and Aiden turned into an eagle. They shape shifted back and looked at me expectantly.

I started muttering under my breath "Maybe a mix between Demeter and Hephaestus, but of course, you can never be too sure." I turned to Aiden and Adara "You two might be descendants of Demeter and Hephaestus. We have to go to Camp Half-Blood to make sure though."

Aiden and Adara looked at each other and I saw an exchange of a silent conversation between them. _We have to go, if we want to escape the monsters and fit in with others, not be an outcast anymore,_ Aiden probably thought, _Nothing to lose, let's go_ , Adara might have said back.

They turned to me "Alright, we'll go, give us some time to pack up our things."

"Great, I'll wait here on the bed," I replied back. They left the room and I layed down on the bed and awaited for what was about to happen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Voice**

 **Aiden's POV:**

I gripped Adara's and Nico's hands as we once again plunged into ice- cold darkness. Usually, during this time period, you fall in a sleep like trance, before you awaken once again to the cold.

The voice came when I was seven, I was asleep in a hard bed in a dirty orphanage called "Sunnyside Home," awfully cheery, huh? It was the dead of night, and I was about to drift into deep sleep, when a gentle wind blew through the window. I remembered that I sat up straight and peered through the was a little basket sitting on the windowsill, with a tiny sleeping baby inside it.

The voice came with it "This is your little sister, take good care of her, love her as well until the time comes, then I will come for you two and we will be reunited." There was another gust of wind and the voice disappeared with it.

I knelt beside the basket and looked inside baby had a sickly skin complexion and had little turfs of dark hair. I drew away from it with curiosity and fear, but when I did, the baby began crying. It was then, when I had the courage to grab a hold of it.

I reached into the basket and cradled it, rocking my arms back and forth. I made funny faces at the baby and it stopped crying. Instead, it opened its blue eyes, stared at me and started laughing.

"Hey, little girl, what's your name? Do you have one?" I was about to come up with a random girl name, when I saw a piece of gold paper in the basket. I took it and held it up in the light. "A- Adara?" I asked confused, _it must be my sister's name_ I thought at the time.

Adara started cooing and I smiled down at her. "Hi Adara, I'm Aiden, your big brother. Aren't you a cute little thing?" Adara smiled back at me.

"We look like each other, look you even have the same dimple I have." I said smiling awkwardly, Adara giggled.

"Okay, so what do babies eat?" I asked myself. "I guess I'll have to ask Ms. Hemingworth tomorrow." I placed Adara back into the basket and placed it next to me on the bed, so I could watch her sleep.

Soon, Adara did fall asleep. I watched her, as she breathed in and out through her little mouth and her nose grow bigger and smaller at times. I kissed her forehead and laid down on my side. I smiled as I started to drift as well, I closed my eyes and saw her face in my sleep, I guess you can say, that it was love at first sight.

My eyes shot open, we fell out of the darkness and onto the grass. Nico got up weakly and dizzily. "Guys, guys run to the side now!" Nico yelled. I then realized we were in the middle of a highway. All three of us suddenly adapted ninja-like skills. We leapt, ducked and bounced over and under the cars to the left side. The cars swiveled and honked all over the highway. Drivers leaned out of the highway and started yelling extreme profanity at us.

Adara was about to turn around and yell back at the drivers, when Nico pushed Adara forward towards the side of the highway. "C'mon Adara, it's useless yelling back at them, just keep going or we're going to get hit," Nico murmured.

We somehow made it to the side of the highway. Adara and I were trying to catch our breaths while Nico collapsed onto the ground, banging his head against the fence in the progress. I winced _That can_ _ **not**_ _be good for his concussion,_ I thought.

Adara and I dragged him closer to the side of the highway, reducing the possibility of getting Nico's leg chopped off. All we had to do now was wait for Nico to get up. The winter breeze was chilly and hard to prevent.

I clung onto my parka jacket and shuddered, while Adara couldn't even move, with her clutching onto her little sweater, her grip tight.

"Are you cold, Adara?" I asked her.

"I'm fine, don't give me your jacket." Adara said gritting her teeth, unable to hide the chattering of her teeth. Not listening to her, I stripped off my parka jacket and gave it to her.

Adara glared at me, but I saw gratefulness in her eyes. "Thanks, but next time I owe you," she growled as she took the jacket. Adara wrapped the jacket around her body and stuck her head into the jacket.

"You don't have to owe me anything," I told her "You're my sister."

Adara shook her head but she worked on a smile enduring the cold. "I still owe you no matter what."

I smiled down at her "Well maybe you can help me with one thing, body warmth?" Adara made a face and stuck her tongue out at me, but she wrapped her arms around me and placed her head on my shoulder.

After a few hours of talking, Adara had fallen asleep, in the same sleep as Nico's. It almost seemed like we were in the same place as ten years ago. Adara asleep next to me, and I watching her.

Cars passed by without one glance at us. Perhaps it was the Mist at work, like Nico explained yesterday. I guess we could do pretty crazy things if the Mist actually worked.

Hours passed by and I watched the sun travel the sky. Nico and Adara finally got up after a few hours after sundown. Adara got her powers working and Nico prepared himself for what he called "shadow traveling". I got a chance to take a nap, so I leaned back on the fence and stared at the sundown. I slowly felt my eyes closing and soon, I fell into infinite darkness.

"I'm hungry," six year old Adara complained to me. I quickly shushed her and peered around the corner. The hospital like hallways were quiet and empty, it also would've made a perfect creepy horror movie set with its flickering lights and crayon colored pictures plastered all over the walls.

"We'll go to lunch soon, we just need find our documents," I told her. Adara whined and made a puppy face at me, I turned around so I wouldn't have to fall for her tricks.

I dragged Adara over to the bright red door on the right. "Give me the pin," I told Adara. She pouted but handed me the pin. "Thank-you." I started to pick at the lock. Picked and poked at the lock, and kept at it until the lock clicked.

I turned the doorknob with ease and opened it. I quickly pulled Adara into the room and shut it behind me quietly. I held my hand out in front of me and in less than a second, it bursted into flames.

"Look to see if is coming, okay?" I asked Adara. She nodded, getting over her tantrum. I turned back to the shelves, scanning through the D section. _Dole, Doman, Domen, Domna, Donali, Donaghue._ There it was, our file.

Aiden Donaghue

Birthday: October 6, 2001

Parents: Unknown

Family Members: Adara Donahue

Race: Unknown

Aiden Donaghue was found on the front steps of the Sunnyside Home facility on October 6, 2001. He was a newborn and had come down with an extreme fever from the outside environment. Nothing else is known about Aiden Donaghue, except that he found a baby girl on a window sill, on January 27, 2007 claiming to be his sister. She is now also in the Sunnyside Home facility.

Nothing else. All this for nothing else, fury washed over me. What's the use of all that sneaking around and going through documents if there was nothing to sneak and go through about?

I punched the shelf, which surprisingly toppled over easily. The shelf crashed into another, which crashed into another causing a domino effect. Powered with even more rage, i slammed the desk into the wall causing it to break the chair behind it and the jar of candy corn to crash and spill candy all over the floor.

I heard Adara screaming, but I didn't care, drunk in my own fury and power, I continued my destruction in the office.

"Aiden, Aiden! Stop!" I heard her scream. "They'll hear everything!" She attempted to stop me by hugging my arm. I shrugged her off harshly, but when she didn't come off, I kicked her. Adara fell off, sprawled on the floor. She instantly got up, brushed off the dust from her shirt. Adara looked up at me, instead of looking angry, she looked hurt.

"Go away, Adara," I told her. Adara looked at me, her eyes blazing, a fire burning behind her eyes passionately.

"I won't leave you, at least not until you come back with me," Adara said furiously.

I gazed into her eyes and retorted back "Why do you care anyways?" I was about to turn away to continue my destruction.

The answer she gave me next was nothing that I expected " 'Cause I love you." I turned back. I was usually the one who told her that I loved her, Adara wouldn't even try to say any gushy family/ love stuff. Whenever I did, she would walk away or cover ears babbling so she couldn't hear me.

I stared into her eyes and she stared back unflinchingly. "Yep," she said bravely "I said it, and I'm not just saying that so you would stop. I mean it. I mean every word."

Instantly, fury melted away from my body, and I felt vulnerable and weak. But, for the first time in forever, I felt loved.

I didn't know what came over me, but I instantly started crying. Yes, I made those ugly sobbing noises, yes I my eyes turned red, yes my nose started to run and everything like that. I did all of those things.

You're probably imagining an ugly picture of me snotting, sobbing and eyes turning red, but if you were me, we would've both agree that it was beautiful. It was beautiful because, I was crying happy, cleansing tears. It finally occurred to me, although, I didn't have any parents, relatives and my caretakers were absolute (I'm sorry) assholes; I was still loved. I was loved by that tiny little thing, the size of a loaf of bread brought to me in a basket.

I hugged her, and she hugged me back. Soon, we were both crying. And I was thankful for that.


End file.
